The United States of Sport: Dr. Kenon Brown on Branding and the Future of Sports Communication

Judy Oskam: 0:01

Welcome to Stories of Change and Creativity. I'm Judy Oskam, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University. On this episode, we're diving into a world where sports, culture, and communication collide. I'm excited to share my conversation with Dr. Kenon Brown from the University of Alabama. Dr. Brown is a professor in advertising and public relations and co-author of the book, The United States of Sport: Media Framing and Influence of the Intersection of Sports and American Culture. He wrote the book with Josh Dickhaus and Mia Long Anderson. Brown is co-director of the Beyond Sports Initiative, a think tank that brings together academics and professionals to explore what's next in sports and gaming. Dr. Brown was at Texas State University as part of the university lecture series in sports media. What I really love about Kenon's story is how he completely changed directions in his career from restaurant and brand management to academia. And he found a way to blend his love of communication, branding, and sports into something meaningful. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Well, I noticed that you you didn't start your career in sports, but how did you find your passion and get into that?

Kenon Brown: 1:29

So that's actually a really good question. Um so the one thing I will say is about my uh work experience is that I did get a chance to really kind of work closely with a lot of um you know athletic directors, a lot of like minor league teams in those roles. Uh but in terms of actually like studying sports, I actually went to um my doctoral program wanting to study corporate communication and investor relations just because of my like work background. Um just got bored of it. Yeah really. And so I was kind of at a crossroads where I really wanted to figure out what I wanted to do next. And I met with uh the late Jennings Bryant, who is a legend, by the way.

Judy Oskam: 2:11

Absolutely.

Kenon Brown: 2:12

And he was our associate dean of uh graduate study. So I um I had the the privilege really of uh kind of learning from him from um, you know, uh towards the end of his career. And I met with him and and just trying to figure out kind of what my next move was going to be. And his it's one question to me was, well, what are you passionate about? What do you like to do? And I told him it was like I'm a sports fan. And his exact words were you can study that. And I did not know at the time that um, you know, that sports was really a scholarly and academic field. And this was kind of a perfect storm because around that time, uh, Dr. Andy Billings, who is a pioneer in sports communication research, was also about to take a job uh at the University of Alabama as well. Um, so I think, again, I think it was just a perfect storm of trying to find something that really fit my passion and actually having somebody in place that could actually kind of show me that yes, this is a legitimate field of study. And, you know, like through his guidance along with uh Dr. Bruce Berger, who is like one of the foremost researchers in PR leadership, I was really kind of able to blend that um, the intersection of strategic communication and sports communication together. And that's really been the focus of my career, like over the last 13, 14 years.

Judy Oskam: 3:30

Well, and just making that change and and making it to where you're gonna live the life you want, right? And it would have been easy for you to stay in the restaurant and retail branding area, right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. You would have made more money, maybe.

Kenon Brown: 3:45

Yeah, I mean, I probably would have made more money. I actually think my um my plans were to actually try to get to the corporate office uh at my last job, which was uh I was uh brand manager for Buffalo Wild Wings, and I wanted to move to the corporate office in Minneapolis um for several reasons that didn't work out. So again, I kind of hit a crossroads, then that really kind of propelled me into academia. Uh and you're right. I mean, I could have stayed industry, I could have gone to a different job, I probably could have made more money, uh, but whatever. But um I I mean I enjoy academia. I enjoy my research. Uh academia has given me an opportunity to do consulting, which is kind of where I get my experience, especially with sport entertainment uh organizations. And it's nice that I'm able to have an academic job that still allows me to really kind of be active in the profession as well.

Judy Oskam: 4:39

Well, and I think blending the industry with academia is that's the nature of our program as well. And you guys are an accredited program, we are too, and that's we're accredited to be a professional program.

Kenon Brown: 4:52

Yeah, um I I mean I've always said that um the research that we do in communication and information science is whether it is journalism, whether it's Adam PR, whether it's electronic media, or whether it's information science, what whatever a com studies, whatever it is, um, because we are a applied field, I feel like the research that we do needs to guide the industry and needs to guide, you know, like the practice of communications. Um if you're not doing it, then what's the point? Really, in my opinion. And that's kind of where the idea for Beyond Sports Initiative really kind of came, um, kind of came to fruition because we always wanted to kind of figure out what's a way that we as sports communication researchers can really help lend our insights and our expertise to the profession to really kind of bridge that gap.

Judy Oskam: 5:42

Well, and I'm married to a soccer coach, so I am living sports 24-7, it seems like. And I think it's been fun for me to watch the women's sports kind of grow.

Kenon Brown: 5:53

Yes.

Judy Oskam: 5:54

And that has been a whole new, and you know, women's soccer is sort of what what we watch, and that's been fascinating to watch.

Kenon Brown: 6:01

Oh, yeah. And I mean, women's soccer has always kind of been on the rise in this country, I think, since like the late 90s, and I love the fact that the WNBA is really starting to grow in popularity. Um, like I've always been a women's basketball fan. So I got my undergraduate from the University of Tennessee. So you you can't not be a women's basketball fan at the University of Tennessee during the past summer. fan of Pat Summitt Oh my gosh, yes. Um, so like I've always enjoyed women's basketball. Um, like I'm I was actually I'm a I'm a band geek, so I was in marching band um during my time at Tennessee as well. And I would just always love playing at the women's basketball game. So it it's just it's great to see just the rise in popularity and the attention that the WNBA is getting. I think it's a long time coming.

Judy Oskam: 6:44

It is, it is. Well, and you've you've kind of turned your passion into not only an academic career, but you're writing books and you've got the book, The United States of Sport.

Kenon Brown: 6:56

Yes.

Judy Oskam: 6:57

Tell us about that.

Kenon Brown: 6:58

Okay, yeah. So uh the United States of Sports, it was a book that I actually wrote with um with two co-authors, and they were actually colleagues of mine and um classmates of mine in the um doctoral program at the University of Alabama. Uh so Dr. Josh Dickhaus and Dr. Mia Long Anderson uh are my co-authors. And we always wanted to write a book that was just about how sport is such a microcosm of society. I mean, it is so representative of society. And if you look at just any aspect of American culture, whether it's health, whether it's politics, whether it's um pop culture, you know, like just what techno the rise of technology, um sport is usually like if it's not in the center of those debates and those conversations, um, sports is usually the pioneer. Uh and I'll talk a little bit about that in my talk today. But, you know, like I think every single aspect of American culture can be connected back to sport. And we just wanted to write a book uh that has ended up honestly being just an anthology of different cases to really kind of make our case that, you know, no matter what area you are looking at when it comes to American culture, sports has like a um a heavy hand in it.

Judy Oskam: 8:12

So give us an example of that. Because I know here at the university we always say that sports is your front porch.

Kenon Brown: 8:18

Yes.

Judy Oskam: 8:18

That's why you've got to have a good team. You've got to have good teams because they bring people in and they they build that connection and that cultural bond. Talk about uh give us an example of something.

Kenon Brown: 8:29

Yeah, absolutely. So so one of the things that we talk about in the in the book, um, you know, the um the continuing fight for equality and pay for uh men and women. Um and I mean, you know, it's yeah, it's it's increasing, but I mean it's not saying increasing at a snail's pace in terms of like the the wages that women are paid compared to men. And that fight really, you know, played out on the soccer field when it comes to the U.S. women's soccer team and and their fight for equal pay compared to the men's. And let's be real, they were doing significantly better than the men's soccer teams, you know, and were being paid significantly less. So, you know, like that was a microcosm of the wage gap that we have in the United States and kind of the fight for equality we've had there. Um, one of the things that I'm gonna talk about, well the the the main focus of my uh presentations today uh is going to be about the parallel careers of Allen Iverson and Jay-Z. And what I'm doing with that is I'm talking about the marriage that happened uh in the late 90s, early 2000s of the NBA and hip hop and how Allen Iverson really kind of forced the NBA into the hip hop era, uh, you know, whether they wanted to or not. Yeah. And it really just became, you know, synonymous with the NBA and with basketball in general. So I'm gonna talk a little bit about that. Um, but you know, you you look at different things like one of the examples I always like to use is um going back to the late 80s, early 90s and HIV epidemic. And nobody really paid attention to it, that gave it the attention that it deserved until Magic Johnson made his announcement. Yeah. So again, you know, it's sports has been central to so many aspects of American culture, and in some cases are the reasons why we were propelled into, you know, certain, you know, certain certain lenses and certain perspectives. Um so I mean I think you just really can point to any aspect of American society and say that sports has had like an important part in that.

Judy Oskam: 10:32

Well why why is it that we feel so passionate about our sports teams? And some people are just I think of cowboy fans and they're diehard fans. I mean, what what is it in our DNA that connects us with a sports fan, a sports team?

Kenon Brown: 10:50

Yeah, well, I mean it it's easy to to make a sports team uh like a part of your identity. I mean, like psychologically, it's so easy to make your affiliation with a sports team part of your identity. And sometimes for better or for worse, you know, like you know, I'm I'm an Atlanta Falcons fan. And, you know, one of the things that I that I always talk about is just the pain and suffering that is being an Atlanta Falcons fan.

Judy Oskam: 11:16

Well the Cowboys could say that too, right?

Kenon Brown: 11:18

Yeah, yeah, that's true. And that has just become like a big part of my identity over the few years. But I just I do think that you know there is just a deep psychological connection that comes with the identif the identification of being a fan of a sports team. And I think it's that aspect of community that comes with it. Um, you know, no, I think that sports is truly one of those like few areas, especially these days, where it can if it wants to transcend transcend, you know, race, gender, ethnicity, you know, like just di different, you know, the differences of you know among us. I think that you know, sports is one of those few things that still kind of brings us together and unites us, right?

Judy Oskam: 12:04

Unites us, yeah.

Kenon Brown: 12:04

So I mean so I think it's that collective, it's that community that comes with it. Um of being a sports fan. I mean, I think that's a huge driver for why people like are just highly identify with sports teams.

Judy Oskam: 12:16

And there's symbolism there with we wear the jerseys, we want to be part of it. I think there's something so magical about sports that is just kind of it's just kind of crazy. It's contagious. It is contagious, yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Well, and you're here at Texas State University talking as part of our lecture series. So we want to welcome you and and you're gonna talk uh tonight a little bit. Can you give us a little preview for the listeners that won't be there? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Kenon Brown: 12:47

So um, so I'm gonna talk a little bit about um, a little bit about the book and kind of a little bit about again, like why how sport is like just a microcosm of American society, how it is reflective of a lot of things in uh in society. And the the bulk of my presentation uh is gonna be on the chapter that I wrote that looks at the parallel careers of Allen Iverson and uh and Jay-Z. So Allen Iverson and Jay-Z um started their careers uh around the same time, you know, and really, you know, kind of blew up around the same time. And once I started kind of digging into my research, I started to see that kind of the rises and falls in their careers uh were very similar and like really on track. So I'm gonna kind of talk about their careers from uh from 1996 until 2003 and just kind of which was kind of the apex for both of them. Jay-Z was out the blueprint and also Allen Iverson's um MVP season that he has. So I'm gonna kind of talk about um their rise and fall until they got to the apex and how it was symbolic of the marriage of hip-hop culture and the NBA, and kind of how the NBA really became reflective of hip-hop culture and vice versa, along the way as well. And that is just kind of one of my examples of how sports has really been influential uh when it comes to pop culture in general, including music.

Judy Oskam: 14:10

Yeah. Well, and with your brand awareness and your consulting, what would you consult them to do differently now looking back? Of course, it's it's it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback.

Kenon Brown: 14:21

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, honestly, I I probably wouldn't tell them to do much differently. I mean, I think that the NBA has really embraced hip hop culture and uh honestly synonymous with really like black American culture. Um, and that's something that the NBA has has always really kind of been a part of. But I really do think that now Alan Iverson and you know the NBA in the early 2000s, that's really when it's really started to kind of take charge. And I and I think that that was like I think that was a smart move to really just kind of embrace it rather than you know try to brush it aside. So um, like it's just always been intriguing to me that marriage of hip hop and sports. Um, so yeah, I'm just really excited to talk about that.

Judy Oskam: 14:59

Well, that's great. Well, and you mentioned music and sports, and I can't let this interview end without saying there's been a lot of connection between music and sports with uh Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Kenon Brown: 15:12

Yeah. Um yeah, yeah. And I mean, she I will say that it it looks like um she's done a lot to kind of help with bringing like more, you know, female fans, more women to be really be interested in the NFL um in the NFL. Um, but again, that marriage of sport and pop culture, that's nothing new. That's nothing new. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the thing that's obviously in the spotlight right now. But you know, that that connection between sports and music or sports in Hollywood. I mean, I that that's been around for decades. So yeah, yeah.

Judy Oskam: 15:44

Well, look ahead and tell us what we can expect from sports and connected with America. What's what's next? Because I think we're just we're growing with some of the women's sports. Uh, we've got the Olympics coming up, we've got World Cup coming up. And what's coming up?

Kenon Brown: 16:02

And that's what I would say is kind of the where the attention I think is going to be focused on now is really you got the World Cup coming up in 2026, you got the uh Summer Olympics coming in 2028. Um, you know, we're co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and then Los Angeles will be the host for the Olympics in 2028. And I just I'm interested to see how the United States embraces to globalized aspects of sports when we are becoming more and more isolated as a country. And and then not just really with the United States, but I mean you're starting to see it just like you know, around the world, how we're becoming like a lot more like isolated as countries. And I'm just interested to kind of see how we embrace what I think are two of the premier showcases of globalization and global unity. Um, and how we like really how do we embrace that when we are just becoming more and more isolated as a country? So I'm interested to kind of see how we how that dynamic works.

Judy Oskam: 17:02

Yeah, and what's ahead for you research-wise? You'll you're gonna dive into that, I'm sure.

Kenon Brown: 17:06

Yeah. So so research-wise, I've um I'm working right now on uh putting together our um 2026 Alabama Summit on uh sport and gaming. So we that's when we actually bring like a lot of scholars and practitioners together to just kind of debate some of the hot topics in sports. Um right now, a lot of my attention is kind of shifted to mental health and sports, particularly the impact of athlete disclosures and kind of how that impacts our awareness of mental health and how it impacts um our willingness to go and basically seek help to seek resources. Um, another area that I'm starting to really kind of look at that kind of ties into that um is sports gambling and just really kind of looking at, you know, like the rise in sports gambling addiction and just like what are some of the things that we can do to really kind of help like combat and alleviate that.

Judy Oskam: 17:57

Which kind of ties back to mental health and wellness too.

Kenon Brown: 18:00

So I'm trying to kind of shift more towards kind of like a public health mental health focus with a lot of my work, but still planning on studying the Olympics and World Cup when it gets here. Um my my primary research area has always been reputation management, so I still do a few things related to image repair and things like that. But I would say the the intersection of sport and public health is really kind of like my my newfound focus now. That's the thing that I'm really kind of focused on.

Judy Oskam: 18:26

Well, and you kind of circle back to, and I was gonna ask you about NIL. So, what what advice from your brand expertise do you have for these NIL athletes? What would you advise them if you could give them two tips? What would you give them a couple of tips on how to manage their brand and try and put themselves in the best light moving forward?

Kenon Brown: 18:46

Yeah, um, I mean, well, one thing that I always stress, not even just for NIL, but just for building a personal brand in general, is just be authentic. Um, you know, like for like specifically for NIL, you know, if if there are brands that don't really align with your personality, your values, like your beliefs, um I I would caution, you know, aligning yourself with those types of brands because again, it just it it adds conflicting messages to your brand image and to your brand personality. Um, so just be you know, being authentic, but also like being consistent with your brand. I mean, like if you're going to portray yourself as this one thing, then you need to make sure that everything you do is kind of in lockstep with that. Um, just to make sure that your persona is is not, you know, inconsistent because I think that's where you lose brand value when you're not actually being consistent with, you know, like and being authentic to yourself.

Judy Oskam: 19:41

Mm-hmm. Well, what what do you think of the NIL stuff? I mean, what's how that's been evolving?

Kenon Brown: 19:47

Yeah, I mean I I'm always I've always been an advocate of you gotta pay, you need to pay players. I mean, like they need to get something for the work that they're putting in. Um, you know, there are a lot of people that say, okay, yeah, scholarships are enough. But I mean, you're talking about, especially like when you talk about like two of the like revenue generating sports, when you talk about football and men's basketball, um, you know, those players deserve to be paid. I mean, I I do think that there needs to be some regulatory standards when it comes to NIL. Um, but the pure essence of NIL, I mean, I'm all for it. I mean, I think I I think you need to pay the players.

Judy Oskam: 20:24

I think it's fascinating and how they have the tools and at their at their disposal as far as social media. So they're using what they're what everyone has access to.

Kenon Brown: 20:34

So that's really been kind of the rise of the co-creator economy that we have right now. I think that just because everybody has the same tools or almost the same tools at their fingertips. I mean, I think that that should be kind of embraced rather than shunned.

Judy Oskam: 20:49

I agree. Yeah, I agree. I agree on that one. That's great. Well, thank you so much for coming, Dr. Brown.

Kenon Brown: 20:53

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, sir. This is great. Yeah. And like I said, I look forward to uh speaking to you know the students and the faculty tonight. I mean, hopefully it's a topic that they're interested in. Um, and you know, as always, just thanks for having me.

Judy Oskam: 21:05

Thank you for coming. You have to come back again.

Kenon Brown: 21:07

Absolutely. Thanks.

Judy Oskam: 21:09

And thank you for listening. I'll include a link to Dr. Brown's book, The United States of Sport, in the show notes. I really love how Kenon shared information about recognizing the perfect storm, the right people at the right time to help you make a pivot. I love how he shared that about his career. You too can find your own perfect storm. It's all about the people, in my opinion. Well, our interview was recorded at Live Oak Studios on the campus of Texas State University. Thank you for listening. And remember, if you've got a story to share or know someone who does, reach out to me at judyoskam.com.